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"Just a very difficult thought, and I don't want to magnify it, but one of the nights I was at the hotel, I said 'I don't want to go on'. Not just with basketball, but with life. I have a family, I have a son, but I felt that way for a second," "There were some moments when everything around me was just creating a burden, when I thought that my life had no sense."
In a specific example of such moments, Rubio spoke about the 2019 World Cup as well, where he won the MVP award for Spain. He admitted showing symptoms of impostor syndrome, i.e., the psychological pattern where an individual seems to feel undeserving of their success. "When I reflect on my career, I'm never satisfied, because it was never enough. I wasn't ecstatic when I would receive an award, I would say to myself that I'm fake, that I don't deserve this."
During his NBA career, he once opened up to the media about his troubles sleeping and got some noteworthy advice from a veteran opponent during an NBA game. "I remember in my third or fourth year in the NBA that I was having a hard time. I was on a bad streak, and there's a journalist who's interviewing me, and I'm opening up a little bit. I find it hard to sleep, I'm feeling bad... And I'm in a game, in a free throw, and a veteran player from the rival team tells me, 'I'm going to give you advice, don't reveal any weak points of yours to the press because they're going to come after you. We're all sharks here, and when we smell blood, we'll get you."
Kyrie Irving: Nerves? I still do get nervous, right? But it’s not uncontrollable nerves now. I know how to settle myself down and regulate my nervous system. Regulating your nervous system starts with breathing through struggle, with breathing through what’s happening internally. Obviously, it’s a lot more to it than just breathing, but as someone who’s dealt with anxiety, who deals with PTSD, and who has been able to be transparent about where I am mentally, spiritually, emotionally—yeah, I still get nervous. But being judged is truly an honor. Being judged for who you are—it’s an honor. Now, it’s up to you whether or not you pay attention to those judgments. But with all the mental stuff people go through, I’ve learned to expand and focus on what I can control in the moment—to be better, rather than afraid of being uncomfortable or facing confrontation.”
Ricky Rubio on mental health struggles: One night I just said, 'I don't want to continue... my life, not my career'
Among the other statements, Ricky Rubio talked how he wanted to end his life: "One night I was in the hotel room, and I just said I don't want to continue. My life, not my career," Rubio said. "There were some moments when everything around me was just creating burden, when I thought that my life has no sense. When I reflect on my career I'm never satisfied, because it was never enough. I wasn't ecstatic when I would receive an award, I would say to myself that I'm fake, that I don't deserve this."
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Dejounte Murray on his first year in New Orleans: When I was dealing with personal issues, the organization wasn’t giving me what I needed
During a guest appearance on “The Pivot Podcast,” Murray was incredibly critical of the Pelicans. While opening up about his personal issues at home, the 28-year-old guard called out New Orleans for the dysfunction he witnessed during his first season with the organization. “It was a situation where, like, I got all these problems going on… I broke my hand, I'm recovering. My mom had a stroke, one of my cousins got killed, then my uncle overdosed… [During all this] I'm not getting what I need in the organization. It's hard for me to get my training time. It's hard for me to get lifts. It's hard for me to get my own court time. So, you can only imagine where my mental was at.”
“I think getting experience is always huge for your mental,” said Jaquez, who is coming off an appearance at the Heat youth camps in Miami and Cooper City. “But I think more than anything, it’s just finding time and moments in the day to just really ground yourself and be present. “I’m working with a mental coach to try to just help myself become present in the moments, try to tune out all the noise and just really focus on what’s important.”
Kyrie Irving: 'I know what it feels like to lose it all or not want to be on Earth anymore'
Kyrie Irving: It’s Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, but this is about awareness of your mental health every day. I’m on here because this helps me with mine. It’s getting me out of my comfort zone, helping me create boundaries. I’m way more driven, and it’s helping me heal. I’m watching the Finals, recovering from my ACL injury—I could be bogged down or depressed. But I’m sharing this unfiltered because you deserve it. I let people spin narratives, get into my head, violate my spiritual boundaries. That led to a spiral of emotions. I know what it feels like to lose it all or not want to be on Earth anymore. So please—don’t stay quiet, don’t retreat. I care. Reach out to your loved ones. You don’t need to call every day, but check on them. Say, ‘How you doing? I love you.’ That matters. I love each and every one of you. Thank you for supporting me."
Kevin Love's father, Stan Love, a former player for the Washington Bullets, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, served as Wilson's caretaker and bodyguard in the 1970s and 1980s as Wilson faced personal challenges. "My Dad and Brian had a special relationship," Kevin Love wrote. "Brian often stayed with my parents when they lived in Emerald Bay. For a period of time, my dad was both his caretaker and bodyguard -- particularly during a period when Brian was struggling with mental health and substance abuse."
Tyrese Haliburton: "I feel like I was letting our group down. For me, the biggest thing was just finding where I could be better, how I could be better. And being honest, having honest conversations with people who I really respect their opinions because I think in the world right now, you get so many unwanted opinions. But you got to choose who you listen to. And so for me, the biggest thing was going and talking to mental health professionals, my coaches, my friends and family, my teammates, just being honest, like, hey, yo, this is how I'm feeling right now. Help me, you know, how can I help this group? Like, what are things that I can control? Cuz I can't always control making shots. I can't always control certain things, but I control how hard I play, my attitude—certain things like that that I'm really in control of."
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Shane Battier: My last year—when I was told without being told that our best chance of winning doesn’t include you, Shane. When Spo started to sit me in the fourth quarter. Nothing was worse to me than that. Sitting in crunch time—that was my identity. That hurt me to my core. That’s when I knew I was done. I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed. I checked out. And I was cynical. So when I retired, I was very cynical. And I was sad—but I was also cynical." Pablo Torre "What does cynicism mean at this point in your trajectory?" Shane Battier "I shut people out. I was probably battling some depression. I didn’t know what depression was. I’d never had this feeling before. But I felt very isolated. I didn’t feel like anyone understood what I was going through. I felt very alone. And I pushed people away. I pushed my wife away. I pushed my kids away. I was just a jerk. I wasn’t doing destructive things—I wasn’t drinking every night—but I was emotionally unavailable. I was hurt. I was pissed off. I had all these emotions I had never associated with basketball. And it was a big mistake to go work for ESPN. I was really bad on TV. You could probably go on Awful Announcing and find some Shane Battier lowlights. I had zero passion for it. Zero."
Shane Battier: Going to ESPN and being terrible at it—that disaster of a year—didn’t help. I’d never been to therapy. But my wife—who I’ve known since seventh grade, married for 22 years—she saw it. She said, 'Look, Shane, I know you like optionality. Here are three options: the number to the Marriott, the number to your attorney, and the number to a life coach psychologist who comes very highly recommended.' I said, 'Heidi, I’m a very smart man. I’m going to choose door three.' And I had to unpack a lot of crap I hadn’t dealt with. I was too driven. I was too busy throwing up, too busy grinding—just blindly pursuing success in basketball. I didn’t give myself time. It wasn’t healthy. I wasn’t stable."
Myles Turner: I think it was a combination of different things. First we started losing a lot. Then suddenly my name was popping up in trade rumors a lot — and that’s not even anything bad, you know? Very few guys will ever be good enough at hooping to become an NBA trade asset. That’s a high as hell level to reach. But it definitely took a toll on my mental health. I’d see stuff on social media like, “Myles Turner is a finished product”.......... man. Even if I knew it was only basketball talk, it was still hard to keep it basketball-only in my feelings. And maybe that’s dumb when you’re making millions of dollars to play the game you love. But what can I say? I was young and I’m human. And I’m not ashamed to say I got pretty depressed.
These are Tyrese Haliburton’s quotes. He said in a different Athletic story that some of your feedback is ‘Shut the F— up. That’s not the issue. Let’s go back into different layers.’ What was the context behind that message? Drew Hanlen: (laughs). “I spend a lot of time studying psychology and mental health because I think it’s so important when it relates to both sports and in life. I really do think most struggles that fans see on the court start off the court. So once I became aware of that a decade-plus ago, I’ve spent thousands of hours reading articles and listening to podcasts and studying different things related to mental health. I don’t take a traditional approach.
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